Monday, July 22, 2013

DIY Weeping Angel Tree Topper

Happy Christmas in July! Thanks to a nudge from a reader, I'm finally getting around to sharing how I made my Weeping Angel tree topper. It's not a true replica of the sinister statues from Doctor Who, but there's no question what it is...

I've wanted a Weeping Angel statue ever since I first saw Blink. I'd really love a life size one made of stone for my front garden, but as that's not realistic, I decided to settle for a small one to put on top of our Christmas tree. Having neither the sculpting talent nor the desire to create one from scratch, I set out to repurpose a lovely (& inexpensive) non-threatening angel tree topper I bought from a department store.

Since it was actually nearing Christmas when I started my project, there were many angel tree toppers in the department store. I chose one of the plainest, since I'd be cutting all her ribbons and beads off anyways. I bought Krylon Make It Stone! Black Granite textured spray paint because that was the closest to gray the store had.

I also looked for an angel with sculpted rather than real hair, thinking it might be easier to cover with the spray. And I tried to find one with solid wings but they were all feathered. Solid would have made much less mess - when I cut that fluff off it flew everywhere! Like the down of a thistle ;)

STEP 1: Remove and cut off all the angel's embellishments, including tinsel & wing fluff. Trim the dress sleeves to the shoulders if possible.

Poor trimmed angel. I bent her arms into the weeping position.

STEP 2: Place trimmed angel on covered work surface and follow paint directions to give it a light even coating of textured paint. I used my driveway covered with paper, but underestimated how far the mist would fly, and now have a lighter stone outline of the paper. I'm sure it will fade eventually...

I realized I'd need to bend the angel's arms back out to be able to paint them. So...

Step 3. Give arms an all-over coat before carefully bending them into "weeping" position while paint is still tacky. Continue spraying until completely covered.

Step 4: Allow to dry in a well-ventilated but not windy place, for about 4 hours. I set mine on my covered porch.

Step 5. Once the paint has dried, trim any straggly feathers from the wings. Give it another coat and allow to dry another 4 hours.

Step 6. Set angel atop something to allow you to spray right to the bottom and in the folds of the skirt. I used an empty coffee can. Give it another good layer of spray paint and allow to dry. Continue until you are happy with the coverage.

Step 7: After the final coat has dried, give it a light coating of clear sealer if you wish.

All done! Now don't take your eyes off it!

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Click the pic to see how my Angel looked atop my Doctor Who Christmas Tree: